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After careful consideration, it's going back.

X

xoutrageousx

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 14, 2014
46
7
I've been playing with the MBPtb 13" for the past week and as much as I wanted to keep it, I just feel like the lackluster battery can't be fixed with just software updates. I am going back to my rMB 12" 2015 in the meantime, everything is amazing but I was just at 4 hours of battery life every single time. Tried all the steps, i'll hold off until Spring or Summer release hoping they fix their issues.
 
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xoutrageousx said:
I've been playing with the MBPtb 13" for the past week and as much as I wanted to keep it, I just feel like the lackluster battery can't be fixed with just software issues. I am going back to my rMB 12" 2015 in the meantime, everything is amazing but I was just at 4 hours of battery life every single time. Tried all the steps, i'll hold off until Spring or Summer release hoping they fix their issues.
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Have you tried some of the remedies like the clean reinstall of Sierra? That has seemed to help many.
 
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xoutrageousx said:
I've been playing with the MBPtb 13" for the past week and as much as I wanted to keep it, I just feel like the lackluster battery can't be fixed with just software issues. I am going back to my rMB 12" 2015 in the meantime, everything is amazing but I was just at 4 hours of battery life every single time. Tried all the steps, i'll hold off until Spring or Summer release hoping they fix their issues.
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Just curious. Why are you not considering the non touch bar version?
 
Falcon80 said:
Just curious. Why are you not considering the non touch bar version?
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Huh? From what I got from his post, he's returning a touchbar 13" rMBP. So he did try it? And he's returning it because of the bad battery life.

Not sure what your question is getting at.

I am probably going to get a 13" rMBP TB, the 15" is too expensive. Will probably get one with just 8GB of RAM, not 16GB. Again, keeping prices lower. But I *HOPE* that the thing will last on battery life.
 
PaulWog said:
Huh? From what I got from his post, he's returning a touchbar 13" rMBP. So he did try it? And he's returning it because of the bad battery life.

Not sure what your question is getting at.

I am probably going to get a 13" rMBP TB, the 15" is too expensive. Will probably get one with just 8GB of RAM, not 16GB. Again, keeping prices lower. But I *HOPE* that the thing will last on battery life.
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He's asking him why he's not considering the NON-touch version, which reportedly has much better battery life
 
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Yeah a great choice would then be the non-touchbar version which seems to be doing quite a lot better in terms of battery life.
 
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His question is related to the larger battery in the non-TB model.

I'm wondering about the general "attitude" towards returning these MacBooks.
I have never considered ordering a brand new and expensive product just to return it.

I know this sounds completely negative, but this is not what I mean.

Considering Apples pricing model and the radical change in functionality, especially the keyboard and the ports,
I would never "just try" this model. It woulds be way to frustrating to use shiny new hardware and then realising that I cannot justify to keep it.

I'm not arguing the moral point of view, I'm just wondering since I literally know no-one at all who would buy and return such a high-end product.
 
pmau said:
His question is related to the larger battery in the non-TB model.

I'm wondering about the general "attitude" towards returning these MacBooks.
I have never considered ordering a brand new and expensive product just to return it.

I know this sounds completely negative, but this is not what I mean.

Considering Apples pricing model and the radical change in functionality, especially the keyboard and the ports,
I would never "just try" this model. It woulds be way to frustrating to use shiny new hardware and then realising that I cannot justify to keep it.

I'm not arguing the moral point of view, I'm just wondering since I literally know no-one at all who would buy and return such a high-end product.
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Haha same. I guess outside the US, this idea of returns isn't that straightforward either.
 
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I don't think you can accurately judge the battery performance on the first few days since you're busy installing stuff and putting files onto it and the OS keeps indexing stuff.
 
I have to say, another one here who who convinced I was going to return it for that very reason. Then I did a fresh USB install of Sierra and formatted the disk, and it's like a whole new machine. Not just battery life but the overall sluggishness that I was getting, is all gone.

Edit: Obviously you have to do what you[re comfortable with, I just wanted to express my thoughts having been on one side and now the other
 
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xoutrageousx said:
I've been playing with the MBPtb 13" for the past week and as much as I wanted to keep it, I just feel like the lackluster battery can't be fixed with just software updates. I am going back to my rMB 12" 2015 in the meantime, everything is amazing but I was just at 4 hours of battery life every single time. Tried all the steps, i'll hold off until Spring or Summer release hoping they fix their issues.
Click to expand...

Here's to stocking the refurbished store for us more economical customers!
 
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xoutrageousx said:
I've been playing with the MBPtb 13" for the past week and as much as I wanted to keep it, I just feel like the lackluster battery can't be fixed with just software updates. I am going back to my rMB 12" 2015 in the meantime, everything is amazing but I was just at 4 hours of battery life every single time. Tried all the steps, i'll hold off until Spring or Summer release hoping they fix their issues.
Click to expand...


Meanwhile I am getting 9 hours consistently on my 13 TB. Sounds like you don't want it either way and you've made up your mind, but I'd suggest exchanging it for another one see if that works. They do actually get close the life that Apple states they will get.
 
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There is nothing wrong with buying something, trying it and returning it if one doesn't like it. Playing with something for a few minutes in a store is not nearly adequate enough to make a judgement. Many times, products don't live up to the hype (battery life) or have characteristics that are unacceptable to some (such as screen uniformity problems). To me, it's foolish to keep something that one isn't completely satisfied with, especially after parting with the kind of money these cost.
 
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skids929 said:
Meanwhile I am getting 9 hours consistently on my 13 TB. Sounds like you don't want either way and you've made up your mind, but I'd suggest exchanging it for another one see if that works. They do actually get close the life that Apple states they will get.
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I think the problem is that people typically got over what Apple stated in the past. I know that was true for me with past rMBP's, the rMB, my original 2006 MacBook and an old 15" MBP. The 13" touchbar version is the first to not ever reach that estimate, and by a pretty significant margin (Best I've gotten is a little over 8 hours.)

8 is generally enough for me as I'm never that far from a charger, but the way Apple advertised 10 hours on both non-touchbar (with 15w processor, no touchbar and larger battery) and touchbar (with smaller battery and 29w processor) just seems a bit shady, because generally the non-touchbar is underestimated and the touchbar is overestimated.

The real reason is Apple marketing didn't want to say 12 hours battery for the $1499 model and 8 hours battery for the $1799 model.
 
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technoholic said:
I have to say, another one here who who convinced I was going to return it for that very reason. Then I did a fresh USB install of Sierra and formatted the disk, and it's like a whole new machine. Not just battery life but the overall sluggishness that I was getting, is all gone.

Edit: Obviously you have to do what you[re comfortable with, I just wanted to express my thoughts having been on one side and now the other
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I will try this. I haven't reformatted it, I have zero information in it.

Thanks for the tip!
 
I have the 13" MBP with toucher and have been getting 10 hours battery life pretty much all the time. Once it was all set up I drained the battery all the way down to 1% and then recharged it, since then I get 10 hours and sometimes plus 10 hours. Not sure what you all are trying to do or how many apps you are running, but I did notice that when I am downloading and watching a movie the battery life does get a little shorter, but I expected that. But with basic usage and web browsing I usually get 10 hours out of it. Remember also, that Apple did not promise 10 hour battery life it states UP TO 10 HOURS. Of course the fine print also states "Depending on usage". The machine itself is great and I believe that it is the consumer has far too high expectations as usual. if you are downloading stuff, using Garage Band, Lightroom, PhotoShop etc that require a bit more power than say Excel or Word then of course you will go through a battery cycle a lot quicker. Get over it people, the battery in the new MacBook Pro is just fine.
 
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coopercoop said:
US is weird why does everybody seem to buy stuff and just return it... i never understood
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god I love being American and American return policies.

You're correct, it does seem weird to anyone but Americans (especially the sanctimonious Parisians/French) but it is absolutely wonderful to be able to return a product that does not satisfy.
 
technoholic said:
I have to say, another one here who who convinced I was going to return it for that very reason. Then I did a fresh USB install of Sierra and formatted the disk, and it's like a whole new machine. Not just battery life but the overall sluggishness that I was getting, is all gone.

Edit: Obviously you have to do what you[re comfortable with, I just wanted to express my thoughts having been on one side and now the other
Click to expand...

After your fresh install did you restore a backup or start everything over again? I'm debating on whether to do a restore from Time Machine or just use Migration assistant to bring over files I need. I prefer the TM option, but also kind of like the idea of a semi-fresh start.
 
xoutrageousx said:
I've been playing with the MBPtb 13" for the past week and as much as I wanted to keep it, I just feel like the lackluster battery can't be fixed with just software updates. I am going back to my rMB 12" 2015 in the meantime, everything is amazing but I was just at 4 hours of battery life every single time. Tried all the steps, i'll hold off until Spring or Summer release hoping they fix their issues.
Click to expand...
Why not just do it instead of announcing it.
 
jardinager said:
god I love being American and American return policies.

You're correct, it does seem weird to anyone but Americans (especially the sanctimonious Parisians/French) but it is absolutely wonderful to be able to return a product that does not satisfy.
Click to expand...
It's not just America that can do this...we all have the same return policies as far as I know (in the UK at least)
 
xoutrageousx said:
I just feel like the lackluster battery can't be fixed
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What kind of battery life were you getting? Could some of it be attributed to SpotLight indexing? I've read some reviews that the battery life was rather poor at first, then a couple of days of usage, things stabilized.

coopercoop said:
US is weird why does everybody seem to buy stuff and just return it... i never understood
Click to expand...
What's wrong with buying a product you think you need, finding it doesn't fit those needs and returning. Apple has a return policy, so why not use it. Clearly the OP had intentions of keeping it, but he's disappointed in the battery life.

Does the EU not have a return policy and that you cannot return a product that you don't like?
 
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